An elderly woman was rescued after she began suffering with heat exhaustion whilst on a coastal walk.
The North West Ambulance Service were called out on Sunday afternoon June 11 to a 999 call for the woman who had walked from St Bees to Fleswick Bay and on her return leg to St Bees had become unwell.
As the incident was coastal and ambulance crews could not easily access the area, HM Coastguard were tasked and both Whitehaven and Maryport’s Coastguard Rescue Teams were deployed.
The woman was found and the teams undertook an initial medical assessment and treatment, before handing the woman over to the ambulance service.
During the incident, the teams also received a notification of a possible second casualty in the vicinity of Fleswick Bay.
Some team members with medical equipment were dispatched to search the bay and surrounding beach and coastal path areas.
Everyone the team spoke with was okay and the team’s control rooms eventually called to say that the alert was a second 999 call about the woman who was unwell from a different location.
In the same evening, the team were also informed of a stranded yacht that had broadcast a pan pan call – which is an urgent call for help.
The vessel had suffered a mechanical failure close to the shore off Fleswick Bay where the team were still present after rescuing the woman who had fallen ill from heat exhaustion.
Another vessel in close proximity came to the yacht’s aid and towed it back to Whitehaven Marina where it was met Coastguard officers to make sure all was well and collect the relevant details.
